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Emmanuel Macron’s popularity has fallen further and faster than that of any other recent French president, an opinion poll indicated on Sunday, as he prepares to push through hotly contested labour reforms.

More than half of French voters - 57 per cent - are dissatisfied with him following the revelation last week that the fresh-faced 39-year-old centrist spent £24,000 on make-up during his first three months in office.

Protests forced him to scrap a plan to give his wife a constitutional role as first lady, and there is discontent over delays in promised tax cuts.

Emmanuel Macron addresses a press conference after a meeting on August 23, 2017 at the Congress palace in SalzburgCredit:
BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images

Only 40 per cent approve of his performance, the Ifop poll showed, a 14 per cent plunge since July, although another poll has placed his rating as low as 36 per cent.

The dramatic decline since his landslide election victory in May, when he enjoyed a 62 per cent approval rating, will do little to enhance Mr Macron’s standing as he hosts a summit on Monday with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, and Italian and Spanish leaders.

Mr Macron has promised to “re-found” the European Union, but to bring Mrs Merkel and other leaders on board for his programme of deeper political and financial integration for the Eurozone, he will first need to prove that he can reform France.

Unions and leftist groups are to hold a first protest on Thursday against his controversial reforms to make French companies more competitive by liberalising France’s rigid employment code.

The far-Left leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who the poll indicates is seen as the most effective opposition leader by a majority of voters, on Sunday urged his supporters to “take the struggle to the streets”.

Another challenge for Mr Macron will be to convince the majority of French voters who are deeply critical of the EU that its benefits extend beyond a narrow elite.

Only 29 per cent of the French public believe they have gained from the EU, according to a recent survey by the Chatham House think tank.

While most French voters remain committed to EU membership, a majority feel “pessimistic”, “angry” or “disgusted” about the way it is currently functioning.

Mr Macron has triggered a diplomatic crisis with Poland over his demands for a change in EU labour rules to prevent central and east European workers from undercutting French workers when posted temporarily to France because they are exempt from its high payroll taxes.

Christophe Castaner, the French government spokesman, on Sunday shrugged off Mr Macron’s plunging approval rating. “Transforming France means taking on a degree of unpopularity,” he said.